Patty was checking her email. She noticed a note from someone who had attended last night’s SMTA meeting. Patty had just been elected chapter president, after giving a talk on the head-in-pillow defect. In her talk, she also shared how important it was to work closely with your materials and equipment suppliers. To her, it was obvious that her suppliers were interested in her success. If they were competent, why shouldn’t she rely on them for technical information and help. If she didn’t think they were competent, she should get new suppliers. She was surprised at how much “push back” she got from the attendees. Several people stated that they felt that suppliers where just out to make a sale and that a smart person just bought from the supplier with the cheapest price. Patty thought that this perspective was negative and self destructive. She was sure that 60% of all process knowledge was learned from her suppliers, either in person or at the technical shows like APEX and SMTAI. She felt the main reason to go to these shows was the technical program. And some of the best papers were presented by the better equipment and materials suppliers.
他们的一位营销副总裁甚至告诉她："我们相信，我们为客户提供的技术帮助越多，我们就会越成功。
"这不就是好生意的浓缩吗？谁能帮助顾客，谁就是最成功的。
就在她胡思乱想的时候，电脑上弹出了一封新邮件。邮件来自著名的老顽固哈尔-林赛（Hal Lindsay）。帕蒂阅读....
"我听到你在昨晚的会议上对一些人说，无铅装配在工艺上有一些优势：胡说八道。无铅没有工艺优势，也不需要无铅。
他又抱怨了几句，最后说："就是因为像你们这样的年轻的树斗士，从来没有站出来为无铅而战，我们才会陷入这样的困境。
在准备回答的过程中，帕蒂的脑海中浮现出她与教授就此事进行的一些谈话。他提出了两个强有力的观点：
1.RoHS 的第一个目的是使回收更安全。许多回收都是
在较贫穷的国家进行，其化学工艺不安全。符合 RoHS 标准的产品将拯救那些为了生存而不得不从事此类回收工作的不幸者的生命。
2.Lead-free soldering is challenging because the solder does not wet as well. This situation forced us to develop assembly processes with tighter process windows. However, an initially unseen benefit is that tighter lead spacings are possible with lead-free soldering because of this poore wetting. Many portable products such as mobile phones, could not be assembled with leaded solder. There would be too many shorts.
帕蒂正在把这些信息写进她给脾气暴躁的林赛先生的回复中，电话响了。是罗伯打来的。
他开始说："我可能要出差去中国探访几家ACME在那里的新工厂。我想你可能也要在焊接工艺上做一些工作。焊接工艺上做一些工作。"
(对于少数不懂普通话的读者："看来我将前往中国参观 ACME 在那里的一些新工厂。我想你也会去解决一些焊接问题。"）)
"哇！"帕蒂惊呼道，"你们为什么要去参观 ACME 在中国的工厂？"
罗布接着说："你知道，AJAX 的情况并不顺利，我们从未像 ACME 那样采用过'精益西格玛'技术。今天，我们进行了一次裁员，我受到了打击"。
"呀！"帕蒂尖叫起来。她的脑海里浮现出了很多罗布在婚礼前 5 周失业的情景。
"别紧张，"罗伯恳求道。"我的总经理打电话给我，说他很遗憾看到我离开，但作为你们总经理的朋友，他为我在 ACME 找到了一份工作。我将负责 ACME 在中国的三家工厂的联络工作。他最后说："我的普通话说得很流利，这一点很重要。
对于美国人来说，帕蒂和罗布是不寻常的，因为他们都会说西班牙语和普通话。他们的父亲都鼓励他们在理工学院学习普通话，因为他们在高中时都学过多年的西班牙语。他们都在中国进行过语言学习（LSA）和实习。正如他们的父亲所说，"如果你会说英语、西班牙语和普通话，你几乎可以和世界上任何专业人士交谈"。帕蒂和罗布都发现，他们的语言技能让他们在国外有了一种现成的纽带。一位德国同事甚至告诉帕蒂，她是他认识的唯一一个不符合欧洲人对美国人看法的美国人，因为他们会问 "你是双语、三语还是美国人？"
帕蒂冷静下来后，问罗伯为什么认为她会去。
He responded, “When your GM gave me the job offer on the phone, he alluded to a team visit to China, by me and this genius young woman that is a process expert. Apparently, they have some Head-in-Pillow, graping and productivity issues. I will be handling the business aspects, you the technical. He also mentioned he would like The Professor to go. I don’t think he knows we are engaged.”
帕蒂向罗布表示祝贺，并结束了谈话。她希望他们的婚姻不会给合作带来任何问题。她还有点恼火的是，她似乎总是最后一个知道主管们为她和她的团队计划的旅行。尤其让她恼火的是，皮特似乎总是比她更早知道他们什么时候需要去冒险。毕竟她是皮特的老板。至少这次是罗布，而不是皮特。皮特不可能知道这次潜在的冒险。
她正准备给脾气暴躁的哈尔-林赛（Hal Lindsay）写完纸条，却听到 "收拾好行李，孩子，这次看起来像去中国"。哦，罗伯也要去。"
干杯
罗恩博士
我在最近一次 SMTA 会议上见到了 Patty。我提到很多她的粉丝都想看看她的照片。出乎意料的是，我们都没有相机。大家都记得她也是一位自学成才的艺术家，我问她是否介意为自己画一张素描。这就是
摩托罗拉公司提供的有铅和无铅焊料的回流图像。
